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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 1,624
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 1,624 |
The expression "I'm a bit crook", meaning "I'm not feeling well", is quite common usage in Australasia. Can anyone enlighten me as to its provenance?
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Any possible relation to German "krank"?
From a Gaelic dictionary:
crog
an aged ewe; from the Scottish crock; cf. Norw. krake, a sickly beast, Fries. krakke, broken-down horse, etc.
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
I found a slang site that says: "Crook : sick, or badly made". Maybe it started with the latter and spread to include the former?
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400 |
re:"Crook : sick, or badly made".
as in
there was a crooked man
who walked a crooked mile
down a crooked path
across a crooked stile
took a crooked wife
built a crooked house
and forever after,
lived a crooked life?
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Joined: Jan 2001
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old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156 |
Crooked means grumpy, bad-tempered, in Newfoundland English. I suppose being sick (ill) could make one crooked but the Dictionary of Newfoundland English doesn't give a derivation for this word, so no clues there.
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
I'll bet it's related to the bent thing: when you're sick, you're often bent over, either vertically or horizontally.
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,074 Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,074 Likes: 2 |
there was a crooked man
who walked a crooked mile
down a crooked path
across a crooked stile
took a crooked wife
built a crooked house
and forever after,
lived a crooked life?
Just for completeness' sake -- the version I grew up with went
"There was a crooked man
Who walked a crooked mile.
He found a crooked sixpence
Upon a crooked stile.
He had a crooked cat
Which caught a crooked mouse,
And they all lived together
In a little crooked house."
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 618
addict
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addict
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 618 |
There was a crooked man
Who walked a crooked mile.
He found a crooked sixpence
Upon a crooked stile.
He had a crooked cat
Which caught a crooked mouse,
And they all lived together
In a little crooked house.
This is closer to the version I remember, but I seem to recall something about a crooked (walking) stick.
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439 |
Me too, doc!
The crook (ailing) gives the poem a whole new meaning ... and makes more sense in an odd sort of way.
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